Sue Allon will step down as chief executive of Allonhill, the mortgage-review firm she started in 2008, to devote more attention to pushing for reforms in the home lending industry.

“I need to be able to influence the market,” she said.

Allon, who will keep the chairman title, promoted two executives to run the operations side as she takes a larger advocacy role in the mortgage industry, which received a huge black eye from the housing bust.

Diana Mead, previously the president of Allonhill, has taken over as CEO with a focus on business development, client relations, sales and operations.

David Kaplan, who recently joined the company as its chief general counsel, is filling Mead’s position. As president, Kaplan will handle day-to-day administration and human resources and will lead the company’s legal team in audits and compliance.

Allonhill was growing rapidly until May, when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency barred it from a large contract to review foreclosed mortgages to determine whether servicers had shortchanged borrowers.

The OCC decision forced Allonhill to lay off 325 workers, half of its peak workforce of 650.

“We took a big cannonball to the side,” she said. “We needed to take a few months to make sure we were stable and steady.”

The firm has since focused on winning more work as a third-party reviewer for banks and other mortgage originators.

Low interest rates and a stronger housing market have contributed to a surge in mortgage lending. Allon is fearful that some players in the industry are once again starting to focus more on quantity than quality, one reason she wanted to push harder for stricter standards.

Among the changes she wants to see take hold is to have credit-rating agencies review the firms responsible for the due diligence on new mortgages. If the quality-control firms aren’t held to task, then the entire system is at risk, she argues.

Aldo Svaldi has worked at The Denver Post since 2000. His coverage areas have included residential real estate, economic development and the Colorado economy. He's also worked for Financial Times Energy, the Denver Business Journal and Arab News.

A White House advisory council on infrastructure Thursday became the latest casualty of the pique of business leaders over President Donald Trump’s response to the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.